STOP!
IF YOU ARE READING THIS CHAPTER AFTER HAVING STARTED THIS STORY BEFORE SEPTEMBER 4TH 2007 I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS AGAIN. I HAVE DOUBLED ALMOST EVERY SINGLE ONE AND DONE A TON OF FLESHING OUT AND REVISIONS.
THE CHAPTER BEFORE THIS ONE IS STILL KIND OF A NOTE BUT I'VE REPLACED THE SUMMARY WITH A PREVIEW AND AN EXPLAINATION OF WHY I TOOK SO LONG TO GET BACK TO THIS STORY.
IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME READING THROUGH THIS FIC, CARRY ON.
Here we go! It's the first real "new" chapter. Hope ya'll enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it and thanks for waiting so long.
Thanks also to all of the people who kept asking me to update. I promise you all that I wasn't dropping this story and I'm not.
Ties of Blood
Chapter 5
Vengeance
'Freedom,' Sesshoumaru youki chanted as it flowed through his veins, bringing with it the familiar intoxication of power that made his fangs lengthen and his claws grow even sharper. His gold eyes began to bleed into red.
'Freedom,' it chanted as he felt his bones shift and realign themselves to form new joints. Other bones fused together to change the shape of his spine and allow his tail to grow in order to give him balance.
'Freedom,' it screamed as his body grew and his senses sharpened to the point where he could see each and every ember that arose from the inferno surrounding him in fine detail. He could hear the multitude of heartbeats of every human and beast in the town. He could smell a foul mixture of sweat, blood, dung, sex and any other number of scents permeating the town. The things that humans did from day to day - all of it, he took in by means of his razor sharp senses and he was elated, so very elated, that soon he would wipe these particular beasts out.
'FREEDOM,' his youki roared out and this time it actually was punctuated by a roar that sent a nearby burning building tumbling down into a heap of smoldering timbers. It rattled the foundations of the buildings that hadn't caught fire yet and he felt a sinful thrill of pleasure at the thought of what he would do.
He had such glorious freedom in this form and he often found himself giving into the whims of his youki, his instincts guiding his most of his actions. There were things he would do, emotions he would express in this form that he would never allow in his humanoid shape. No, here in his inu-form, he could be truly free. He could let himself go and rampage to his heart's content. Oh, yes, he would take this opportunity to enjoy himself, but first…
Lifting up his massive head, he scented the air, searching for one scent in particular. Upon finding it, he turned his red eyes towards it and was rewarded with the sight of her - the girl who fascinated him. His human form was made for logic but this, this form acted on almost pure instinct though, of course, it was tempered by his keen intelligence – a formidable combination. He watched Rin, curious as to how she viewed this form of his. Was she frightened at last? Would she run screaming?
A purely canine though insinuated itself into his brain. If she ran now he would hunt her down. He would run her to ground like the predator he was and he would tear her to pieces. Logic told him that it would be a fine way to rid himself of her before they reached the point of no return. Instinct told him that the joy of the hunt would be worth it, that she was a new toy to do with as he could. But he controlled both sides of his nature and waited. What would she do? Oh, what would she do?
He felt an odd rush of exhilaration when she stood her ground and stared right back at him. He knew she couldn't see his face from this distance but her body language told him loud and clear that she would not back down to him, even in this form. It got him excited – the thought of the challenges she would provide – and he expressed his delight with a loud bark. He couldn't wait to return and go at it again with her.
Somewhere in his mind, he knew that it was his youki putting these ideas into his head but he could admit, if only to himself, that idea of challenging her appealed. No one had ever made him do or say the things he did around her and he had known her for only a few hours. What else could she possibly have in store?
Sesshoumaru would give the matter his full attention when he returned but, for now, he had a town to destroy. He knew the miko was here somewhere but he was not yet as full strength, so his revenge would have to wait. However, how would the Daimyo react if he woke up to a town that was nothing more than smoldering ruins? If he could have, he would have smiled darkly at the delicious thought of returning his own humiliation in kind to the human lord.
Rising up, he let out one last roar and moved in for the attack.
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"Hurry it up, human," the toad youkai ordered with obvious irritation.
"Where exactly are we going, Toad?" Rin asked, deliberately slowing down to annoy him and because her legs were starting to get tired. She hadn't been quite as active as she used to be once Souta left, having dedicated her time to acting more feminine. This meant that her stamina wasn't what it used to be and she was starting to have trouble keeping up. It certainly didn't help that the only light she had to see by was the orange glow of the burning town and even that small amount was diminishing with distance.
"You will address me as Jaken-Sama, human," he said without stopping, though his voice was clearly laced with irritation.
"But you said you were proud to be a toad, as I recall."
He gave a little 'hrumph' and said, "That doesn't mean that my name is toad."
"Well, it's funny that you should mention that because my name isn't 'human' either - it's Rin" she replied, knowing that he had walked right into that one.
Apparently Jaken realized his blunder as well and he stopped, spinning around to glare at her with his bulging yellow eyes. "Well, I never…," he said, the very picture of arrogance, "I have little patience for your impertinence, human. If all goes well, you won't even be around long enough for it to matter."
"Maybe I won't…" she drawled slowly before giving him a sly smile, "and maybe I will. There must be something about me that appeals to your lord - otherwise I would be dead by now, right?"
Jaken muttered something under his breath about uppity humans not knowing their place and refused to answer.
Letting out a sigh she moved forward and met his eyes with her own. "Look Jaken," she refused to slap a "Sama" onto the end of his name, "I'll tell you the same thing I told your lord. You won't lose anything by using my name and it's the only thing I really have that's my own. Can you look at it from my perspective, please?"
"I refuse to envision myself as an ugly human like you."
Rin had to bite her cheek to refrain from saying something smart in response to his comment. So she was an "ugly human" huh? And what was he? The sun goddess, Amaterasu, made flesh?
'Down, Rin, you don't need to respond to everything he says.'
Deciding to try a different approach – since the reasonable one was obviously wasted on the toad - she gave him a sweet smile and said, in as kind a voice as she could manage, "I pity Sesshoumaru-Sama."
He was took a few step back, wary of this sudden change in attitude, and narrowed his huge eyes suspiciously, "Why?"
"You claim to follow your master but you obviously think that you're better than he. He, at least, can say my name. But you…are you really as loyal as you claim to be? A loyal servant will go wherever his master goes and seek to imitate him as long as it is possible to do so. I am a mere human girl, what harm could I possibly do? Unless…" she paused to let her words sink in.
The toad had a sickly look on his face and she watched him swallow hard before he prompted her to continue with a raspy, "…unless?"
"Unless I feel inclined to tell Sesshoumaru-Sama what a faithless servant he has. I could tell him how you feel that you are so much better than him. That you do not deem him worthy of following his direction in the simplest of things."
"That's a lie," he said, attempting to infuse his voice with courage. Rin almost felt sorry for him because even she knew that she was being a bit spiteful but, this had been a hard night. And she could tell that this situation with Jaken would need to be nipped in the bud if she wanted to have a peaceful life of any sort when they arrived at their destination. He wasn't the type to be "killed with kindness", so she had to go for his weakness. And that weakness seemed to be the fear of losing the taiyoukai's favor.
"Why," Jaken continued, pulling her away from her thoughts, "would Sesshoumaru-Sama listen to you over me? I've served him for years."
"I'm still alive when he himself said that he should have killed me. Who knows what else might he allow me to have my way in?" In all honesty, she didn't have the foggiest idea of how much sway she could possibly have over the taiyoukai, but that was neither here nor there. She suppressed a smile as she watched the little toad turn her words over in his head before he seemed to come to a decision.
"You wouldn't tell him anything like that, would you…Rin?" he queried - his staff rested in the crook of his elbow and he was wringing his tiny claws together in worry.
"I won't if you'll stop treating me like some sort of animal. You can't go classing all humans in the same category. I am not my brother - who never was much of a fighter. When you bite, I'll bite back twice as hard. Keep that in mind and we'll get along just fine. But honestly, all I really want is some peace in my life."
Jaken stared at her for a long moment before giving another little 'hmph" and turning away. "I suppose it wouldn't be too much trouble to call you by your name. It is much shorter after all. But don't you go thinking that this changes anything between us. I don't want any tales reaching Sesshoumaru-Sama's ears about me."
Rin suppressed a giggle as she responded, "Of course, not."
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Rin had a feeling that they were being watched. It had been an hour since they stopped and when she asked Jaken what they were doing, he told her that they were waiting for Sesshoumaru. Well, waiting was all fine and good but she didn't relish the thought of a potential attack before her new lord returned. Jaken didn't seem like he would make a particularly good guardian and sword training hadn't been on her to-do list of ladylike pursuits.
No matter how hard she peered into the surrounding brush, she just couldn't make out anything but trees, trees, and more trees. To make matters worse, it was starting to get cold and her kimono wasn't made to withstand the oncoming chill of autumn. She shivered a bit and brought her hands up to rub some warmth back into her arms. If whatever was in the woods didn't get to her, the decreasing temperature would.
"Umm, Jaken," she began and he gave her a 'hmm?' to let her know that he was listening.
"I don't know if you've noticed it, but I think we're being watched."
He made a sound that somehow managed to give her the equivalent feeling that having him roll his ridiculously huge eyes at her would have.
"We are being watched. I came here with my fellow youkai and they are keeping watch to insure that we aren't attacked and that you don't escape," he made it sound as if it should be common knowledge and she was getting that "humans are so ignorant" vibe from him again. She refrained from stomping on his head.
Jaken, she decided, would have a seizure if anything non-disparaging came out of his tiny, wrinkledup mouth. She had the good sense to remember that, though he was tiny and annoying, he was still a youkai and she could only push so far. Rin got the feeling that this particular youkai had been instrumental in starting and spreading the fire that was currently eating away the western side of the town. There was doubtless more to him than met the eye.
Letting out a sigh of long-suffering, she sat down next to the toad and resigned herself to waiting. Before long, she had fallen asleep.
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"Where is he?"
Souta's head snapped up at the sound of her voice and he stared wide-eyed at her. It shamed him to admit but the first thing he noticed was that she was still as beautiful as ever. Kikyou had always been the epitome of grace and refinement, a vision of beauty and poise. How proud he had been as a boy to know that he had the most beautiful sister in town. She had been kind too, watching over Kagome and he and, later, Rin with a concern that was ever present. It had been obvious to all that she loved her younger siblings and only wanted what was best for them.
All of that had changed about eight years ago. She and Kagome had gone, in the tradition of their family, to train as miko. Father had approved until he learned that, instead of going to tiny villages to ward off any minor youkai who came too near, their powers were going to be used in battle. Their opponents weren't merely the vermin-like youkai who kidnapped a human or two either – no - they were going to be up against the largest and most powerful of youkai – the kind who rarely made contact with humans.
The head of the Higurashi household had demanded the return of his daughters and they had been allowed to come home for a brief visit. However, it had already been too late. Kikyou had been different and Kagome – who had always been vivacious and active – had looked as if most of the life had been taken out of her. When he asked her what had happened to their older sister, she muttered something about an experiment to make Kikyou stronger and avoided the subject like the plague.
Eventually he stopped asking but the longer Kikyou stayed under their roof the more he felt as if she were someone else entirely. She would fluctuate between kindness and cruelty, joy and bitterness, excitement and apathy. It frightened him but still he acted as if all was well. It wasn't until she gave him a clear sign that something was very wrong with her that he started to keep his distance. It had been a strange reaction to something simple.
Flashback
Rin was playing around, as usual, and trying to – unsuccessfully - entice Kikyou into playing with her. The next thing he knew Kikyou was towering over the child and had slapped her so hard that she stubbed to the floor. Never would he forget the sight of those innocent brown eyes of Rin's filling with tears as she scrambled to her feet and ran outside. He glared at his older sister and snagged Kagome's hand on the way out, pulling her along as he searched for Rin.
They found her huddled under the cherry tree on the side of the house, sniffling quietly as she nursed her knee.
Bending down, he gently moved her small hands away from her leg and winced at the sight of blood – she had skinned her knee very badly.
"I'm sorry, Rin-chan," he said, using a corner of his kimono to dab at the wound, "I should have stopped her."
"It…it's okay, Souta nii-chan," replied Rin in between sniffles, "it's going to heal soon anyways."
"Not that soon," he said, not realizing the import of her words, "it'll probably take a few days to stop hurting."
"Uh, uh," she shook her head, "look." She moved his hands away and both he and Kagome gasped as the wound began to shrink until it was nothing more than a small patch of pink skin.
"See," Rin said with a bright smile.
"Kagome, did you see that," Souta asked in amazement, not taking his eyes off of his adopted sister. When she didn't answer right away, he turned and said her name again, his tone questioning. He was shocked to see that the blood had drained out of her face.
"Kagome? Kagome! Snap out of it! This is wonderful news. Rin might be a miko just like you and Kikyou. Kagome!"
She seemed to come back to herself and she offered him a weak smile.
"Yes, that's…wonderful…just wonderful," she said with absolutely no enthusiasm.
"What is going on here? Maybe I should just get Kikyou to confirm my idea and apologize to Rin," he began to rise and found himself anchored to the spot by the surprisingly strong hand of his sister.
"Don't Souta-kun. Please don't tell Kikyou that Rin has powers of any sort."
He frowned and asked in uter bewilderment, "but…why not?"
"Just trust me on this. If you love Rin and want to keep her safe, you'll help me keep this from Kikyou."
Souta stared into her panicked brown eyes for a long moment before nodding slowly.
Just what in the world was going on?
End flashback
"Where is he? Don't make me ask you again, Souta," Kikyou's voice was hard and he shivered.
The soldiers had released him from the cage at Kagome's bidding and he had been tied up instead to await Kikyou's arrival. Well, here she was and it was obvious that while he had been musing internally about the past, she had started to grow impatient.
'Stalling her is going to be hard,' he thought before making his reply.
"Where's who?" he asked, watching as the corners of her mouth tightened.
"You know who. Don't play stupid. I want to know the whereabouts of the youkai."
"I don't know," he answered truthfully, "shouldn't you be able to sense a youkai that strong with your abilities?"
"I can normally but his youki hasn't recovered that much just yet since he escaped his cage. Besides, there are other youkai about in this town and their energies are mixing together. Perhaps a better question would be: who freed him?"
"I can't tell you that," he said, carefully maintaining a neutral face.
"It had to have been a miko of some sort to break through my seal. Tell me, what sort of miko would free such a dangerous youkai," there was a definite edge to her voice now and he could see her changing into someone else right before his eyes. Her eyes grew colder by the minute and he could feel the barely restrained violence that roiled about inside of her.
It took everything he had to lie with a straight face and say, "I don't know."
"Don't lie to me," she hissed, taking a step forward when a fat hand grasped her arm and pulled her back. She whirled around to glare at the interloper, her expression softening a bit as she looked into the worried face of the Daimyo – Lord Kazuhiko Yamada.
"I heard that the beast has escaped," Kazuhiko-Sama whined, "You promised me that he was under control." As if to underscore his words a loud roar sounded in the distance and the air grew thick with pure, raw power. Souta grimaced - Sesshoumaru was going on the rampage.
"He was, but someone let him out. Rest assured that I will find that someone," Kikyou looked right at her brother, "as well as the monster and put them both out of their misery."
"Is there anything you can do about it now?" He was wringing his fat fingers together.
"As a matter of fact…" her words were cut off by an urgent pounding on the gate timbers. They had opened the massive door to let Kikyou in but closed them immediately after in case the youkai decided to come back and exact revenge. No one dared to mention that mere wood was highly unlikely to stop and angry monster.
The lord and the miko both looked at the door as the pounding increased in number, joined by the voices of the townspeople as they begged for entrance to escape the raging demon demolishing their town. A few soldiers moved towards the doors only to be halted by the harsh voice of the Daimyo.
"Who told you to open the gates?"
"But, my lord, there are people out there," one soldier spoke up.
"I can hear them just fine," he snapped, wiping a hand across his forhead.
"Should we not give them shelter?" asked another soldier.
"I'm afraid they'll have to fend for themselves. I won't take a chance on that demon making it in here."
"But…"
Kazuhiko-Sama cut the soldier off, "The next man who asks me to open the gate loses his head."
Silence fell over the courtyard as the soldiers looked at each other helplessly, obviously torn between obeying and disobeying his cruel command. With resigned faces they turned their backs from the door and the people outside but they couldn't block out the screams and the cries and the gurgles when Sesshoumaru finally reached the people begging outside the gate. Nor could they block out the smell of burned flesh as Sesshoumaru's poisonous spittle ate away at their bodies, ending one life after another until the cries dwindled away to nothing.
Souta felt sick to his stomach and for one second, he completely agreed with Sesshoumaru's opinion on humans. Humans were weak and disloyal, cruel where there was no need and he hated himself for being human.
He hated himself and wept for all of those poor lost souls outside the gate. And he wept at his inability to do anything.
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His paws were soaked in blood. Sesshoumaru stared down at them and concentrated, watching as they gradually shrank until they were pale, claw-tipped fingers once more. There were still traces of blood on them and he raised them to his lips, slowly drawing his tongue through the viscous fluid and turning the taste over in his mouth. Grimacing slightly, he decided that he would allow his youki to absorb the nutrients into his body through his skin and turned to survey his handiwork.
The town was no more.
Dawn rose slowly over the place where it had once stood. Smoldering heaps lay throughout where once there had stood buildings. Some of the smoke came from the houses that had caught fire and collapsed while other smoked because his acidic poison had yet to finish eating its way through the timber – and the bodies that lay above and beneath the timber. The only place he'd left intact was the Daimyo's residence and he would have dearly loved to see the look on the man's face when he caught sight of the present he'd left him.
The taiyoukai was tempted to search out any stragglers and put them out of their misery but his need for vengeance was sated – for the moment. He still had two miko in particular to take care of but he had neither the strength nor the time for that right now. Of primary importance was his return home - he had to make sure that none of his retainers had gotten the foolish idea into their heads that he wasn't going to come back. There were likely going to be more bodies lying about before he was through.
Slowly, a cloud formed at his feet and he slowly levitated upwards, pausing to make sure that his youki would be able to take him where he needed to go. Once he was satisfied, he set off in the same direction he'd ordered his servant to go with the girl – scenting the air to make sure that he didn't over shoot them. In very little time, he located the clearing where they were located and descended, allowing the cloud to dissipate until his feet were on solid ground once more.
"Ah, Sesshoumaru-Sama, welcome back. Did all go well?" Jaken came rushing over to him, bowing low.
The young lord nodded absently, his eyes searching out and finding the form of the human girl. She was fast asleep and he found himself mildly amused that she had managed to go to sleep when her night had been so exciting.
"The girl…she was tolerable?" he queried, looking at the toad and noting the tiny start the other youkai gave.
"I…yes, she was alright," he muttered and Sesshoumaru quirked a brow at that. Jaken always had something negative to say about everyone, excluding himself. The fact that the toad wasn't whining told him that she had probably managed to find a way under his wrinkled skin. His human was resourceful.
He paused, liking the sound of that - his human. She was like and unlike her brother and he wanted to know each and every way that they both differed and resembled each other. Perhaps his foray into town had done him some good, he felt more relaxed than he had in a good while.
"Jaken, he intoned softly so as not to wake the girl, "summon Ah-Un."
"Ah, yes, Sesshoumaru-Sama. Right away." The toad said, moving off a few feet and raising his staff to call the two-headed dragon.
Sesshoumaru kneeled and stared at the girl for a brief moment. He was tempted to catch one of the silky locks of her hair between his finger but he resisted, there were still lesser youkai about after all. He settled instead on picking her up as gently as he could - telling himself that there was no harm in this small thing at least.
A low growl signaled the arrival of his steed and made his way over to the two-headed dragon which nodded its heads at him. He seated himself on the saddle provided gracefully, arranging the girl comfortably on his lap with one hand while lifting the reins with the other.
He waited patiently as Jaken clambered onto the back of the beast also - being careful not to touch his lord - and the taiyoukai snapped the reins. Slowly, the dragon lifted from the ground until it was well above the trees before moving forward at a brisk pace.
The Lord of the Westernlands looked down at his sleeping servant and wondered what changes she would bring.
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There you go, the first new chapter in over three years, hope you all enjoyed it. More coming soon. Please review and let me know if I'm screwing these characters up for you or not.